Florence -- Florence junior Jacob Yslas knew if he could get to the third period in his showdown match with Salida's Jake Schoenfeld, he would prevail.

And that's exactly what happened. Yslas, 21-2 and ranked seventh in the state, rallied from a 3-0 deficit late in the second period to edge Schoenfeld, ranked fifth, 7-6, on Thursday night at Florence High School.

The victory helped the Huskies bury the Spartans 63-18 in the Tri-Peaks League West dual. Florence will host a 23-team tournament Saturday, with many of the state's best teams expected to compete.

"Not to be disrespectful, but we knew from previous years that Salida doesn't have the best conditioning," said Yslas, who earned a trip to state as a sophomore. "So our plan for this one was to just ride it out until the third period, and then I would be in better shape and we would do all of our major wrestling then. That's what I did. I would have liked to not have given up so many points early."

Down 3-0, the tide turned for Yslas at the end of the second period when he was awarded a takedown at the edge of the mat.

"That kind of turned the tables and told me that I could compete with him," Yslas said.

In a wild third period, Yslas went up for good at 4-3 on a reversal and then 6-3 before Schoenfeld's own rally ran out of time.

Yslas' performance, Huskies coach Bob Masse said, is a product of hard work and maturity.

"Those are the kinds of matches he had trouble winning last year, the close ones, against kids with the same ability as him," Masse said. "It's just mental toughness. He worked in summertime, went to camp and it's paying off."

Ward entered the match ranked 13th in the state, while Wood was ranked eighth.

Wood used his tall, lanky frame to his advantage throughout most of the first period and halfway through the second before Ward figured things out.

"I've wrestled a lot of kids that tall, and you just have to make them small," said Ward, who trailed Wood 7-4 midway through the second period. "Once they get small, they are just like me. You have to bring their head down to their toes, work it and work it and just wear them out."

Ward didn't realize that he was going to face a ranked opponent until the weigh-ins before the match.

"It kicked in at that time that it was going to be a tough match," said Ward, whose riding a wave of momentum after having gone 7-0 last week at the Gunnison tournament.

"I made a lot of mistakes (early) tonight by keeping my hips in, and I knew that if I did that one more time that he would probably get me because I was getting winded," Ward said. "So I just tried to take advantage of his weaknesses."

In all, Florence earned six pins, won one decision and received three forfeits in the match that didn't last one hour.

This weekend's tournament, Masse said, should be a great tune-up to the rest of the season and for regionals and state.

Top-ranked Centauri, along with the likes of powerhouses such as Valley, Brush and Monte Vista, will be in town.

"It's like a state tournament preview," Masse said. "We want that competition."

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